Polar opposite techniques

Here is a simple tip.  Every time you are photographing a scene, make sure to photograph it completely opposite of how you are shooting it. If you are shooting from a high angle, then shoot from a low angle.  If you are shooting horizontal, how about creating a vertical version.  If you are shooting at f16, how about f2.8.  Going to polar opposite techniques sometimes results in very creative, original images.  You will no doubt get images you don’t like, especially since you are doing opposite of what you liked in the first place.  But sometimes you might be surprised.  Variety is good in photography.

On a recent boat cruise on Prince William Sound we photographed a kittiwake rookery.  Hundreds of birds were flying through the air.  My first thought was shoot at a fast shutter speed to freeze the action.  I got a lot of images I Iiked, similar to the one above.  But then I pondered what I could do different, and the opposite of tack sharp is blurry.  So I slowed down my shutter speed to around 1/30 and fired frame after frame.  Honestly, most of the images didn’t look great.  It always challenges me to find the perfect sweet spot with pan and blur images.

But I did find one I liked, at the top of this post.  One bird was traveling at a different speed than the main flock, so it was sharper than the rest.  Just what the image needed…a little order in the chaos to give the eye a resting point.  Always remember to experiment with your image making.  Your creativity will improve, and you might just get an image you really like.